San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and people isolated of their properties, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his hands on a “miracle treatment,” in response to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” despite the treatment turning into more and more scarce. But Staley had a means of getting it, he later told an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese provider, prosecutors mentioned.

Staley was sentenced last week to 30 days in jail and a yr of home confinement for the scheme. He pleaded guilty last year.

“On the height of the pandemic, before vaccines have been accessible, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman stated in a information release. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of all the medical profession.”

Staley’s lawyer didn't immediately respond to requests for comment late Monday.

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19 — and the results that followed

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning within the early days of the pandemic, as a “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought about demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and ultimately affecting those that wanted it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine will not be an effective treatment for covid and did not stop folks from becoming sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal agents began wanting into Staley after concerned clients alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class beauty improvements at inexpensive prices,” courtroom documents present, and offered providers including Botox, fats switch, hair elimination and tattoo removing.

The covid therapy package came with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional charge), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medications, data show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired concerning the therapy package, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone soon after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing treatment” that would maintain somebody immune from covid for a minimum of six weeks, in accordance with court data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley mentioned to the undercover agent, courtroom paperwork show. “It’s laborious to believe, it’s almost too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a outstanding clinical phenomenon.”

He added that the virus “actually disappears in hours” after an individual takes the drug.

When requested by the agent whether or not the medication was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley stated yes however certified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” court docket data present.

In the course of the call, Staley additionally advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “acquired the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data present, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “candy potato extract.” He added that the powder was enough to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later offered the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 family members — for $4,000, in response to courtroom paperwork.

A Florida man obtained hundreds of thousands in coronavirus support. He used it to buy a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded responsible in July 2021. As part of his plea settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as one among his staff to fill a prescription for hydroxychloroquine to then use it in his kits, prosecutors mentioned. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal brokers in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in worry during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner said in a news launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “At the moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a rip-off to make a fast buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and to offer again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s kit. He also needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medicine, multiple luggage of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

In response to records from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been quickly suspended by a court docket order.